Shutter

Like a piece of flotsam left behind by the receding tide of Asian horror, this frightening Thai ghost story – with its inevitable echoes of ‘Ringu’, ‘Ju-On’ and ‘The Eye’ – is an interesting find. Shot back in 2004, it uses familiar imagery (sloe-eyed female ghost, smudged photos) to haunting effect. Ultimately, though, joint directors Parkpoom Wongpoom and Banjong Pisanthanakun cannot dispel a strong feeling of déjà vu.

Driving home after a party, freelance photographer Tun (Ananda Everingham) and his fiancée Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee) accidentally run down a young woman, then flee. Shortly afterwards, ghost-like images appear in Tun’s photos, and his old school friends turn suicidal. The earlier disappearance of Tun’s strange ex-girlfriend, Natre (Achita Sikamana), suggests that a school secret may be the source of these events. The jury is out on whether we need another J-horror scare story, but it’s not an open-and-shut case. And with the re-make in the works, the file remains open.